Great experience with Toyo AT3s in snow and ice. Had them in SD and MT this past winter and only slide once (on black ice). I've been running them on my '11 LX since December.
Winter tires on an LX570?
- Thread starter lovetoski
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #22
Hi all. After decades on the 60 and 80 sections, it’s gratifying to have a similar experience here on this section. Cruiserheads helping each other out. The feed back to my question is pretty clear....if you live in a region with compact snow and ice in winter, then there is a good/better/best heirarchy: AT3, Hakka (or similar), Hakka studded. Thankyou all.
I've run Nokian Hakka R3 SUVs, Open Country AT3s, and Nitto Ridge Grapplers in snow and ice. I can add my recommendation to those above. The Nokians are EXCELLENT. They hook up on snow and ice almost like dry pavement and perform well in dry and wet.
I will add, there is no comparison between a winter tire and snow rated AT. AT3s and RGs do fine in fresh loose snow, but anything packed and icy they are not great. I've been on snow/ice forest roads in the mountains of Utah with both and scared myself witless. If you loose traction on a side incline or straight descent you just keep going (unless you happen upon a rut before slipping off the edge...thank god! BTDT). There's no number of fancy Toyota/Lexus traction devices that can save you then, although I will say crawl control does help some in a straight icy decent.
I'll be getting new winters this year. Eying the Nokian LT3s to replace my R3 SUVs, but was also considering Goodyear WinterCommand LT, or possibly the new Michelin X-ICE Snow SUV.
UPDATE 9/10/21: Guys at Discount Tire advised me that the X-Ice Snow tires have lots of negative feedback in large truck sizes (275/70R18) and that the Goodyear’s don’t perform as well as Nokian. I’m sticking with Nokian and getting the LT3s.
I will add, there is no comparison between a winter tire and snow rated AT. AT3s and RGs do fine in fresh loose snow, but anything packed and icy they are not great. I've been on snow/ice forest roads in the mountains of Utah with both and scared myself witless. If you loose traction on a side incline or straight descent you just keep going (unless you happen upon a rut before slipping off the edge...thank god! BTDT). There's no number of fancy Toyota/Lexus traction devices that can save you then, although I will say crawl control does help some in a straight icy decent.
I'll be getting new winters this year. Eying the Nokian LT3s to replace my R3 SUVs, but was also considering Goodyear WinterCommand LT, or possibly the new Michelin X-ICE Snow SUV.
UPDATE 9/10/21: Guys at Discount Tire advised me that the X-Ice Snow tires have lots of negative feedback in large truck sizes (275/70R18) and that the Goodyear’s don’t perform as well as Nokian. I’m sticking with Nokian and getting the LT3s.
Last edited:
I will add that COVID shutdowns last winter provided some fun opportunities to 'play' in snow covered (5-12") ski resort parking lots with reckless abandon with all three aforementioned tires and run all kinds of fun tests. The only 'downside' to the Nokian R3s is that they are no fun for 'play'. With the LXs normal daily driving modes enabled (4H, Active TRAC/VSC) it is nearly impossible to make the vehicle break traction and slide, skid, donut, or anything else fun. Never got bogged or lost traction. Disable Active TRAC (pressing the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) button once) and you can have a little fun.
With the AT3s in 10" with Active TRAC/VSC enabled I could slide around a lot more and managed to get totally bogged several times--straight ahead where I lost traction in all four tires and the Active TRAC essentially cut all power from the engine and stopped me in my tracks. I had to completely disable Active TRAC/VSC (3s press) to use spin to keep moving in the deep snow. I also got bogged in 4L with Crawl Control enabled testing Turn Assist. Basically couldn't plow through 10" in the turn, lost traction at all four tires and all four tires just slowly turned in unison without going anywhere (pretty funny looking actually).
With the AT3s in 10" with Active TRAC/VSC enabled I could slide around a lot more and managed to get totally bogged several times--straight ahead where I lost traction in all four tires and the Active TRAC essentially cut all power from the engine and stopped me in my tracks. I had to completely disable Active TRAC/VSC (3s press) to use spin to keep moving in the deep snow. I also got bogged in 4L with Crawl Control enabled testing Turn Assist. Basically couldn't plow through 10" in the turn, lost traction at all four tires and all four tires just slowly turned in unison without going anywhere (pretty funny looking actually).
